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Poem in Advance of Witty Repartee

Poem in Advance of Witty Repartee

with kelly it is estuary, almost a carmen sandiego
kindof wariness, cloistered if not unrelenting,
a heat that hardens to the point of the spear.
one could almost agree to the ural mountains
or douse one’s own blueberry eyes with methyl iodide
in hope for the ripest morning, almost agree
to a certain stammer of seeing, almost agree
to a great pale copernican shape.
as the shape of cell phone towers beaking
the pittsburgh vista, as the conversation carries
a profitable searing, the shape of one’s opinions
is the shape of sharing. for instance, lovely.
for instance, the day one does not sam waterston
in the same defenestrated dogs’ full clever,
one’s hair is wet with new bath water, the new
bath water the tissue of precarious rome,
the orbit of caravaggio one admires within
the folded leather of the dionysian ear.
usufruct: if it is just the same to be a pittsburgh
caper and not a m.v.p. slugger up to bat in the
7th inning, if it is the same 3 cherries in 3 slots
winning, will it be 3 piece suits and t.d. ameritrade
with you, kelly? a small, little and tiny caravaggio
inside you, tying his ankles to your clavicles,
blowing cadmium yellow kisses, lost to bequeathing?

Contributors

Jeremy Behreandt was raised in Park Falls, Wisconsin, and currently resides in Madison. He received his BA in creative writing at UW–Eau Claire. His poetry has appeared in Conium Review, Mad Rush, New Gnus, and Wisconsin People & Ideas.

Wisconsin People & Ideas is the Academy's quarterly magazine of contemporary Wisconsin thought and culture.